


An Evening as Rivals

by Crybaby_Ninja



Category: Naruto
Genre: Drinking, Established Relationship, Friendship, KakaGai - Freeform, KakaGai Week 2019, Kakashi Hatake - Freeform, M/M, Might Gai - Freeform, POV Might Gai, Secret Relationship, eternal rivals, kakagai week, saratobi asuma/yuuhi kurenai, shiranui genma/namiashi raido (mentioned)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21972160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crybaby_Ninja/pseuds/Crybaby_Ninja
Summary: Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai and Asuma have a rare evening out together.Set just before Naruto ShippudenWritten for KakaGai week 2019
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Maito Gai | Might Guy, Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy, Sarutobi Asuma/Yuuhi Kurenai
Comments: 2
Kudos: 84
Collections: KakaGai Week 2019 entries





	An Evening as Rivals

“Another round for my dear friends and I, please!” Gai flashed a bright smile at the passing waitress, leaning across his Rival to do so. Kakashi didn’t seem to mind, apparently content to pat his shiny hair. 

“Is tonight a challenge, Gai? Because I seem to be handling my alcohol better than you, if so.” Kakashi mused, trying to mess up Gai’s perfect bowl cut. It was defiantly true, Gai couldn’t lie to himself about that. Kakashi had always seemed to fare better than him when alcohol was involved. None of them had drunk very much tonight, but Gai could already feel the alcohol affecting him a little. Fortunately for him, a point wasn’t on the line tonight. 

“Of course not, Rival! I would never suggest such a dangerous challenge!” He took a moment to thank the waitress who brought over their drinks, while Asuma laughed from across the table. 

“Now hold on a minute, Gai. I seem to remember you challenging Kakashi to a drinking competition a few years ago – it was shots, wasn’t it?” Asuma called, lighting another cigarette as he lay his arm across the back of Kuranai’s chair. 

“You'd just gotten your genin team; that’s why we were all out, right?” Opposite Gai, Kurenai smiled as she spoke, leaning into Asuma and waving some stray smoke away. Gai sat up, frowning and folding his arms across his chest. Well, he had intended to frown, but it had most likely appeared more like a pout to his friends. 

“Yes, but that was different! We were celebrating that night and I’m not used to lots of alcohol!” Gai countered. “I don’t think I won that challenge though I can’t quite remember it...” 

“I remember it well, it’s all stored in here and you lost badly.” Kakashi patted the forehead protector over his eye, whilst pushing the cups he’d been pouring towards the others. “I have not had enough alcohol for you to be this loud.” Gai laughed, his amusement no quieter than his speech. 

"Drink up then, Rival!" He swung his arm around Kakashi's neck as Kurenai laughed across the table. “I intend for us all to have a fun night!” 

There was an easy pause between the four jonin sensei, full of smiles, laughter and drinking. It had been a while since all of them had had time off from missions at the same time, and with Naruto’s return to the village imminent, that meant soon Kakashi would be on more frequent missions too. Gai had pleaded with the chunin working the mission desk to give them all the following few days off, so this really might be the last time in a long while for them to have an evening like this together. 

"It's been nice to see you smile so much recently, Kakashi," Kurenai spoke, before cutting herself off with a drunken giggle. “Well, not see, but we know you’re smiling somewhere behind that mask of yours.” Kakashi’s eye curved like a crescent moon as he leant back in his chair. 

“How would you know if I'm smiling - I could be making all kinds of faces under here." He drawled lazily, and no one brought up the fact that he had skirted around the implied question. As Kakashi's Eternal Rival, Gai took it upon himself to find out the truth, inching closer to his friend and staring at the masked portion of his face. 

“Gai... What are you doing over there?” Asuma’s voice was thick with suppressed laughter as he asked his question. Gai squinted at his target, concentrating hard – the low lighting in the bar was a hindrance. 

"I'm trying to see if my Rival is smiling..." He spared a glance further up and watched Kakashi's eyebrow shoot up, almost disappearing into his silver hairline. 

"Um, Gai? I don't think you'll see past the mask. Unless you developed the byakugan while we weren't looking?” He barely heard Kurenai. This close to Kakashi, Gai could see a feint blush peeking out of the top of his mask. 

“My friends!” Gai grabbed hold of Kakashi’s arm, raising it above both their heads, like he has done after many joint victories. “The Copy Ninja Kakashi, Eternal Rival of Konoha’s Might Gai, is blushing!” Gai punctuated his announcement with the biggest grin he could manage, looking triumphantly at his friends. 

Asuma’s laughter filled the room; beside him, Kurenai’s shoulders hadn’t stopped shaking with her amusement. Kakashi looked from one to the other, mumbling something that sounded to Gai like ‘traitors’ from under his mask. 

“Maa, It’s just because it’s warm in here, alright? It’s the heat and the alcohol.” Kakashi’s blush has increased slightly, dusting the tips of his ears too. 

“Maybe it has to do with how close your ‘Rival’ was to you, huh Kakashi?” The way Asuma said the word ‘rival’ suggested lewd implications, and Gai felt his own face redden. Kakashi’s only response was to take Asuma’s cigarette out of his mouth and drop it into his cup of saké. 

"Well, we can easily fix one of those things." He announced calmly and turned back to Kakashi, quickly unzipping his flak vest and hanging it on the back on his chair. "You should feel more comfortable now, Kakashi!" Gai gave him a thumbs up and grinned at his friend, who placed a hand on his cheek in response. 

“Such a thoughtful friend; you’re the best rival I could have hoped for, Gai.” His face felt like it would split in two if he smiled any more, but somehow he managed it while his stomach was doing somersaults. The alcohol must really be affecting Kakashi tonight – he was not someone to initiate physical contact, well not out in public and especially not accompanied by such affectionate words. 

A quiet (and possibly fake) cough from across the table reminded the friends that they had company, and they split apart, both attempting to conceal not-so-secret smiles. 

“I’m off to powder my nose…” As Kurenai left the table for the bathroom (probably to avoid the awkward quiet that had settled around the four), neither Kakash or Gai could miss the way that Asuma’s eyes followed her. 

Apparently fed up of being the most embarrassed that night, Kakashi leant close to Gai’s ear. 

“Gai, we’re tied in our rivalry right now, yes?” Kakashi leant in even closer as he spoke to him; Gai could see a somewhat sinister glint in his eye as he spoke quietly to his friend. 

“Yes, Rival. I won the last point, equalising us for now. Why, do you have a challenge in mind?” Gai watched him as he poured the four of them another cup, once Asuma had retrieved a cigarette-less one for himself. Across the table, Kurenai had returned and the two jonin sensei were sat very close together, whispering and giggling. 

“I do have a challenge in mind, as in happens.” Kakashi was already refilling his own cup as he leant into his Rival’s space. Gai hadn’t even seen him drink his last drink. “Whoever gets Asuma and Kurenai to admit they’re dating wins the point.” 

Gai silently drained his cup and placed both elbows on the table, resting his head on his hands. Directly opposite him, Kurenai looked at him blankly for a moment. 

“So Kurenai, what’s your type?” Gai looked up at her, smiling as Asuma coughed and spluttered on his saké beside her. 

“My type?” Kurenai’s cheeks started to match her signature red lipstick. Apparently, neither had been expecting this line of questioning from Gai tonight. 

“Yes, your type. What do you look for in a romantic partner?” He kept a small smile on his face while Asuma slowly recovered. From his position, leaning across the table, he couldn’t see Kakashi’s reaction, but the hand resting on his lower back was shaking slightly, suggesting he was suppressing the goofy chuckles that Gai always loved to hear. 

“Um… Kindness. Inner strength, I think. I don’t know, I don’t really think about it.” Kurenai spoke quieter than usual and quickly grabbed her drink, seeming thankful for it. 

There was a pause for a moment that Asuma broke a little apprehensively. 

“Why are you asking?” He lit a fresh cigarette as he spoke, angling the smoke away from his friends. 

“Well our students are all growing up,” Gai sat up in his chair again, turning to look at all three of them. “I overheard Lee asking Ino about specific flower meanings – he was putting together a bouquet for someone with the meanings of courage, first love, friendship, and passion. It made me think that if our precious students are ready to venture out in search of love, then why shouldn’t we?” 

Kakashi was the first to respond; while he’d been silent, he had started running his hand over Gai’s back lightly and didn’t seem aware of his actions. 

“Who was he buying flowers for?” 

“I’m not sure, Rival. He was being secretive about the person’s identity to Ino, and I didn’t ask him about it; when my precious student wants me to know, he’ll tell me himself.” Gai couldn’t keep the proud grin off his face, he even felt himself tearing up thinking about just how much Lee had grown since he had begun teaching him. 

He wiped his eyes, smiling at his friends. 

“So you're saying you are looking for love, and we should be too?" Kurenai seemed to be desperately avoiding eye contact as she refilled empty cups around the table. Gai gave her a smile. 

“I didn’t say anything about myself, and it doesn’t have to be love. Find someone for intimacy or companionship if that’s what you want!” Gai sipped his drink as the others stared at him. “Well, Kurenai, who is the kindest person I know…” He thought through all his friends and acquaintances. “Possibly Umino Iruka, don’t you agree, Rival?” Gai looked to Kakashi for confirmation and received an amused nod. 

“Gai, Iruka is lovely, but I’m not looking for anything like that.” Kurenai’s blush hadn’t completely gone, but it was slowly fading. 

“But he’s so nice! What about more uhh… informal relations?” Gai didn’t meet anyone else’s eyes while he spoke. When he woke up this morning, he didn’t think he would be talking about casual sex in public – the things he would do to win a challenge with his Rival. 

“Are you suggesting that my –” Asuma stopped himself mid-sentence. “That Kurenai have quick sex with Iruka?” Gai spared a glance at Kakashi; that ‘my’ Asuma had said sounded promising. 

“Only if she wants to, and I said nothing about quick.” Gai politely asked the nearest waitress for another round of drinks. 

“Let’s take Iruka off the table, shall we? I don’t think Kurenai’s his type anyway, and I’ve got a certain little Kohai I’m planning on introducing to him.” Kakashi’s grin was downright devious as he slipped off his forehead protector, keeping his left eye closed. “What about Genma? He's kind and strong." Though he was speaking to Kurenai, Kakashi’s eye never left Asuma, judging his reaction. 

“I think this whole thing is a little inappropriate for evening conversation, guys…” Asuma said, finishing his drink under heavy scrutiny. 

“You’re not jealous, are you Asuma?” Gai leant forward, almost on the edge of his seat as he spoke. It’s a good job he’s a jonin sensei because Asuma’s flustered denial suggested that undercover work was not for him. 

“If you want, we could put in a good word with Genma for you – let him know that you’re interested. That goes for either of you two.” There was defiantly a hidden mischievous grin on Kakashi’s face as he spoke, and Asuma couldn’t protest enough. 

“I’m not interested, Kakashi, in Genma or men.” With that comment, Asuma finished another cup, still flustered, it seemed. It was Kakashi’s turn to wear a frown, however, as he sat up straighter, apparently paying more attention. 

“Wait, you’re not interested in men? You’re telling me you lived with those muscly monks for years because of religious reasons, not to watch them train naked under waterfalls and shit?” 

While Asuma’s indignant objections were enjoyable to watch, it was Kurenai’s laughter that was really a sight to behold. It seemed she had been trying to hold in her giggles, maybe for the sake of her boyfriend, but now her cheeks were straining from a grin so wide it could compete against one of Gai’s. Her laughter echoed around them and Asuma was powerless to do anything but smile fondly at her, an arm around her waist. The pair were sweet to watch and Gai’s hand sought out Kakashi’s under the table. 

“The ship has sailed there, Genma’s already in a relationship – sorry, Asuma.” Gai grinned, stroking his rival’s hand. At the blank looks around him, he laughed. “Genma’s dating Raido; they have been together for at least a year now." Vacant looks turned thoughtful; apparently, that piece of information made sense to his friends. 

“Well, now we know one think him and Kakashi have in common,” she tilted her cup towards him, smiling smugly. “You both like a man with muscles.” 

Perhaps it had been a mistake for Kakashi to remove his forehead protector, because now both eyes were wide open in shock as he stared at Kurenai while she sipped her drink. 

“What? I... That’s... I–I...” He was a spluttering mess, face completely flushed. “Shut up...” Kakashi managed feebly, amid his friends’ enjoyment. The slight bump in the front of his mask was the only indicator that he was sticking his tongue out at them. 

“My poor, embarrassed Rival!” Gai wound an arm around him, laughing, and Kakashi lay his head on his shoulder. 

“Gai, we have some mean friends...” He stuck his tongue out again, possibly in response to the smirk Asuma was giving him, and Gai finished the last of his drink. 

“Rival, if you don’t stop sticking your tongue out, I will put it to good use.” He only made the comment quietly, speaking softly in Kakashi’s ear, but it seemed that the opposite side of the table inferred that an inappropriate comment had been made. It was a fair assumption to make, Gai thought; Kakashi had gone an interesting shade of pink and quietly slunk down in his seat, whilst (try as he might) Gai couldn’t seem to keep the smug grin off his face. 

“Gai, do we want to know what just happened? What did you just say?” Kurenai asked. Perhaps her curiosity had gotten the better of her, after all, it wasn't often that you saw Kakashi as a quiet, blushing mess. 

“I apologise, Kurenai, I could not repeat such words to yourself. It would be unsavoury!” His laughter was loud and there were no more outright inquiries, though it was impossible not to notice the way Asuma regarded the pair, how Kurenai scrutinised them over her cup. Kakashi, however, hadn’t let go of Gai hand under the table – their fingers were interlinked as they sat as close together as possible. 

*** 

“So nobody won a point today.” Gai mused as he walked in front of his friend, swinging his arms as he went. 

“Maa, the most either of us got was Asuma almost calling Kurenai his girlfriend. I was sure they’d slip up eventually." Kakashi didn't sound too disappointed – Gai could hear the hidden smile in his voice. 

“Their fingers were laced as they left the bar, though; that’s kind of an obvious sign that they’re dating.” Gai frowned; it was not often there was a challenge where neither of them won. 

“We hold hands and we’re not dating.” Kakashi’s voice was soft behind him. Gai slowed to a stop, thoughtful for a moment. 

“That’s true...” His voice was far quieter than usual as he considered his friend’s words. 

“We have something better than that, though.” Kakashi’s comment was coupled with him slipping his arms around Gai from behind him. 

“What might that be?” Gai placed his own arms over Kakashi’s, holding on to any part of him that he could. 

“We’re Rivals.” Kakashi lay his head over Gai’s shoulder. His face was still pink from the alcohol, his hair was its usual mess, but his eyes were bright and sparkling as he looked at Gai. 

“You forgot the Eternal, Kakashi.” Gai turned a little in his arms, just enough for them to bump noses. 

“I could never forget that.” Kakashi reached up and pulled his mask down, showing Gai a smile that only he got to see, and Gai couldn’t help but kiss him under the starlit sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2 for KakaGai week 2019, written for the prompt 'Rivals'.
> 
> I love the friendships between the jonin in Naruto
> 
> Hope you Enjoyed!


End file.
